Traditionally, enforcement of traffic speed laws has been difficult due to the enormous number of roadways to be monitored by a relatively small number of police officers. The adoption of radar systems by police forces across the nation for use in apprehending violators of the speed laws has simplified the task of enforcing these laws. However, the effectiveness of radar systems has been greatly reduced by the introduction of radar detectors to the commercial market. These devices can detect the presence of police radar, allowing a motorist with a radar detector to reduce speed before being detected by the police radar system. Ironically, those motorists who show an intent to break speed laws by purchasing commercial radar detectors are the least likely to be apprehended for speeding violations.
The introduction of hand held radar guns has been somewhat successful in thwarting radar detector owners who break speed laws. With such a system, a police officer can aim a radar gun at a moving vehicle before actually turning on the system and generating a radar pulse. Nonetheless, these radar pulses are still picked up further down the road by radar detector owners, who react accordingly to avoid being apprehended.